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What we learned while covering TIFF

Some stars really like their makeup, while tweeting about celebrities is a surefire way to up your followers count.

We're not quite sure what Andrew Garfield's beard is about. And he wasn't telling. (Hannah Yoon / The Canadian Press)

By Star Staff

Thu., Sept. 11, 2014

After a week of grabbing celebrities for a quick quote on the red carpet, sitting through press conferences and, in one case, surviving the screening of an extremely long movie, there are a few things that we’ve learned from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival:

There are beards and then there is Andrew Garfield’s beard and you probably shouldn’t ask about it. “A beard’s a beard and this is one of them,” a disdainful Garfield said while fondling his rather unkempt-looking facial hair. “We’ll talk about that later when we’re not wasting other people’s time.”

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While many have long suspected Jennifer Garner is no tech savant, she finds navigating the ever-changing world of emojis and Snapchat in her latest film Men, Women, and Children “properly horrifying.” “Is it Tinder or Tumblr?” Garner asked her co-stars during TIFF, as if to illustrate this very point.

Tweeting about celebrities makes you a big deal on social media. Simply mentioning Robert Pattinson’s name garners dozens of retweets and a new follower who goes by “twilight crazy.” A post about Jennifer Aniston and her fiancé, meanwhile, will get your tweets favourited by the likes of @jenanistonlovee and @JenPerfAniston.

Having numerous A-list celebrities does not a good press conference make. From Tina Fey to Jane Fonda, some of Hollywood’s biggest names were on stage for the This Is Where I Leave You press conference Monday morning, but the assembled media quickly ran out of questions for the stars. Luckily, Dax Shepard was on hand with queries of his own, asking a journalist in the crowd about her brightly coloured outfit. “It’s like being on your first mushroom trip,” the actor mused.

Compiled by Jacques Gallant, Jane Gerster and Gemma Karstens-Smith.

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